Las Vegas Raiders Insider Podcast on options at QB and the NFL Draft, hunting for an OC, AO4s confidence, AP, and Dan Campbell
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00:00 Hi everybody, this is Hondo Carpenter from Sports Illustrated's Fann Nation Las Vegas
00:06 Raiders Insider Podcast.
00:08 It's great to be with you today.
00:10 I want to thank you for taking time.
00:11 This is super, super early, but appreciate you joining us on the broadcast and we're
00:16 going to go through a lot of information today.
00:20 I want to start though with something that's important to me as an individual.
00:24 And that is yesterday my wife made her first appearance on the podcast and y'all were so
00:29 kind to her.
00:30 In fact, so kind that certain people, part of the organization, were sending us comments
00:39 that people made and I don't know who the person is.
00:42 I haven't gone through all the comments, but somebody said the Chiefs have Taylor Swift
00:48 and we've got Shannon Carpenter.
00:49 I'll tell you that went through.
00:52 Several people in the organization sent that to us and I just thought that was really funny
00:56 and really kind of you.
00:58 I appreciate all of you.
01:00 My wife is a tremendous gift from the Lord to our family.
01:05 She is a very accomplished nurse.
01:08 She has saved numerous lives where her bosses and doctors have flat said that.
01:17 And she's so dedicated to her craft.
01:22 She is such compassion for people and she's just a great mom.
01:27 She's a terrific wife and an awesome nurse and just one of the finest people in the world
01:35 that I've ever met.
01:36 And when you are married to a spouse that just loves the Lord and loves her family and
01:42 is just a woman of integrity, who wouldn't want to brag about their bride like that and
01:48 beautiful inside and out.
01:49 So I just wanted to personally say to you guys, I was not too excited about doing that
01:56 because I know how people are.
01:58 99% of people are great.
02:01 But that 1% can be pretty nasty.
02:06 And I just decided, okay, I'll just protect her from it.
02:10 And she wanted to comment about those socks.
02:13 So anyways, thank you all for being so kind.
02:18 Lot to cover today.
02:19 A ton of information to disseminate to you.
02:23 I'd like to start.
02:24 Let me just tell you, we're going to talk about the quarterback position.
02:29 What I think is going to happen.
02:32 Not what I think is going to happen, but what are the options for the Raiders at quarterback
02:37 that are being looked at?
02:39 Because they're looking at everything.
02:41 We're going to look at Dan Campbell and Antonio Pierce, because there are a lot of similarities
02:48 and we're going to talk about those.
02:49 And what are some things that AP is doing different outside of the similarities that
02:55 I think are going to help him more than maybe Dan Campbell's been helped.
03:03 We're going to also take a look at competition on this roster.
03:09 Some things that I heard yesterday that I think will be really good for you.
03:12 But let's start with the offensive coordinator.
03:16 I told you yesterday and I've told you before, I expect the Raiders offensive coordinator
03:23 position to be done today, tomorrow, Wednesday at the latest.
03:28 I'm going to tell you this, I would be a little surprised if the roster isn't done by Wednesday.
03:35 Maybe have one spot open or whatever, or somebody that they know they're going to bring in,
03:39 but it's close.
03:41 And then when it is, we are actually going to do a podcast on each coach, breaking down
03:48 each coach, what's their strengths, what's their weaknesses, what's their resume.
03:53 On some of them, we may even bring in some experts who are very familiar with their career
03:58 path.
03:59 So by time, we are going to really dig in on the Raiders staff.
04:05 You guys are going to have what I believe is the most knowledgeable that you've ever
04:13 been on a Raiders staff.
04:17 When I inherited and came in with John Gruden's staff, this is my fifth season, we didn't
04:26 do as much as we deep dive on them like we will.
04:31 We did quite a bit, but not like we have.
04:34 Josh McDaniels' time, we did some.
04:38 There were some weak points on Josh's staff and whatever.
04:43 But this one, we're going to dig very, very deep.
04:46 I was told by someone who has known me, I'm not going to come in covering the Raiders
04:52 for only five years and pretend like I have enough institutional knowledge to go back
04:59 to the 60s with Al Davis.
05:00 I don't.
05:02 And so I am more than willing to say, you know, within my time or within X amount of
05:07 years, but I was talking to someone who has the institutional knowledge that we were discussing
05:16 kind of where AP's going with his staff, what's happening.
05:21 And he told me, I mean, I told him this is setting up to be one of the best staffs of
05:27 the five years that I've been here, if not the best, I think it could be.
05:32 There's a couple of guys I'm waiting to see if they're able to land.
05:36 And he agreed with me.
05:37 So he is a person that has the institutional knowledge, having covered the team.
05:42 So we're going to really dig in on this staff.
05:44 I think that's really important.
05:46 This is a new era of Raider football.
05:49 And I told someone the other, I think it was last night, it may have been two days ago,
05:53 but on an airplane, I said, listen, this is a new era of Raider football.
05:59 And it's an era of going back to Raider football.
06:04 They're going back and attacking the game and approaching the game of football like
06:09 it used to be.
06:11 Previously, when this was a franchise that put fear into the minds of other teams, you
06:19 know, the Raiders know that they're not going to go out and win 17 games.
06:23 It's just it's nearly an impossible feat to do.
06:29 Someone will do it eventually, but it's nearly impossible.
06:32 But what you want is two or three weeks after you've played the Raiders, the Raiders want
06:38 you to still feel it.
06:42 And they're putting together a staff of master technicians, tremendous, tremendous teachers
06:54 of the game, men who understand the game, but men who also come with great relationships.
07:03 That's very important to Antonio Pierce.
07:06 Now, if you're a coach with a very high standard, Nick Saban is famous for saying this, mediocre
07:14 people don't like high achievers and high achievers don't like mediocre people.
07:20 It should not be ironic to you that everywhere Antonio Pierce played, he endeared himself
07:29 to the head coach.
07:30 Now, it wasn't because he was a brown noser.
07:34 He endeared himself to the head coach because he played at a standard, because he played
07:41 at such a level that made other people around him better.
07:44 You've heard me tell the story.
07:45 Ervin Johnson, I'm from Michigan and knew his family, so for you, it's magic.
07:51 But Ervin told me one time, I asked Ervin, I said, "Tell me what's the difference between
07:57 a good and a great player?"
07:59 Because Ervin's great.
08:00 And he said to me, "You can't be a great player if you're not a good player."
08:06 But the difference is a great player is a good player who makes others around him better.
08:15 That's a brilliant point.
08:17 So when we look at this staff, AP is making a conscientious effort.
08:22 I want tacticians, but I want guys that are able to build relationship.
08:28 Now there's some people who are no longer with this team, and not all of them, by the
08:35 way, who could not build relationships with players.
08:38 Players just did not like them.
08:41 And I've been asked not to bury anyone, so I'm not going to do it.
08:44 They're not here.
08:46 You can all probably figure out who I'm talking about, but it's irrelevant.
08:50 So I will honor the request made of me and not bury anyone.
08:56 All right.
09:00 But there are some guys that just are so overbearing, so whatever, they don't have the ability to
09:07 build relationships with people.
09:11 Then there are some guys that come in are tacticians.
09:14 They want it done one way.
09:15 This is how you're going to do it.
09:16 I'm the coach.
09:17 I'm going to teach you.
09:18 I'm going to give you every resource.
09:19 I'm going to get to know you.
09:20 I'm going to do everything to help you be successful.
09:23 But if you're lazy and you're not going to put any effort in, no, that's what AP wants.
09:29 He doesn't want butt kissers on his staff.
09:32 He didn't want them on his roster either.
09:34 He wants guys that are relationship builders, but you got to build them with the right people.
09:39 Nick Saban was fond of saying, if you are allowing it, you're coaching it.
09:44 So he wants tacticians.
09:45 Remember, I shared with you the story about AP when he was with the Giants, when they
09:51 beat Brady 17 and old Patriots, breaking down films, saw some tendencies, goes to his coaches.
09:58 I've had members of that team tell me, Devin Thomas, the great wide receiver is a very
10:02 good friend of mine, but others, Devin Thomas told me, I'm on offense, he's on defense.
10:08 We wouldn't have won that game without AP.
10:12 He wants those kinds of guys.
10:15 So Kubiak is one of the coaches for San Francisco.
10:21 He's a guy that the Raiders were interested in for offensive coordinator.
10:27 I don't know where he sits on that process.
10:29 I don't know if the Raiders are like, okay, we're willing to, they've already put a slip
10:35 in to interview him, they want to interview him.
10:39 I don't know where he stands on the rankings, to be very frank with you.
10:44 I don't, at the last time that I spoke with someone with direct knowledge of the situation,
10:49 they didn't know who's number one on their list.
10:55 They really didn't.
10:56 It was, I've told you this before, it was, hey, who's AP going to fall in love with?
11:02 He's asking very tough questions of every candidate for the OC job.
11:08 He is looking for a particular person.
11:13 Now go back to Patrick Graham.
11:17 When he was with the Patriots, many people thought this guy's a head coach candidate.
11:23 Then he goes to the Giants with a terrible head coach and he looked terrible.
11:31 So if you're not a person who has a football acumen and a high football IQ, you would have
11:38 said, why are you hiring Patrick Graham?
11:42 And a lot of people did.
11:43 I remember, you can go back and look, this is what I love about the digital age.
11:47 When the Raiders hired Patrick Graham from the New England Patriots, I said, this is
11:53 a guy that should be the head coach.
11:54 He just worked for a moron in New York.
11:57 And I got killed by it.
11:58 I had a lot of people, that's why I talk about the 1% in the comment section.
12:04 You don't know what you're talking about.
12:06 You're just being a shill for Josh McDaniels.
12:10 Okay, amazing.
12:11 You report truth and you're a shill.
12:14 That's a problem in our country right now.
12:16 Nobody listens to anybody.
12:18 If you're not of my tribe, and then it gets from tribe to my opinion.
12:25 Anyways, after his first year here in Vegas, a lot of people wanted him gone.
12:30 I said, listen, this is a good thing that he's back with the Raiders.
12:33 Took a ton of grief for it last year.
12:36 Now nobody wants him to go.
12:39 Absolutely true.
12:40 Nobody wants him to go.
12:42 And as I've reported all along, if he doesn't get a head coach job, he will be back.
12:48 But AP understands you can be a really, really good coach on a very, very bad staff where
13:00 the head coach doesn't, in the old words, release the hounds and let you go do what
13:05 you want to do.
13:07 If you're a position coach and you work for a coordinator and he says, this is how I want
13:11 that taught.
13:13 You're going to teach it the way your boss wants it.
13:16 How many of you have ever had a job and thought, man, I can think of ways that we can do this
13:20 better, but my boss wants it done this way.
13:23 Now AP also wants guys who will go to his coordinators and say, I think we can do this
13:27 better and they'll listen.
13:29 And if they say no, then he's good with that, but he wants them to listen.
13:35 And good leaders do that.
13:39 So he's looking at a bunch of different guys.
13:41 I mentioned yesterday and I'll mention again, because our viewership numbers are much higher
13:46 on a weekday, Monday through Thursday than they are on the weekend.
13:52 But there is one head coach that is out there that if AP doesn't find what he's looking
14:02 for, he will talk to.
14:06 An interview.
14:07 A very successful, you know, a good head coach.
14:14 I could give you a name because I believe I know who it is, but I am not.
14:24 I got the name from somebody that I believe is truthful, but they're not a, they're a
14:30 kind of a new source.
14:31 And so since I haven't had a chance to prove them out over time, I'm going to wait before
14:36 I give that name.
14:37 But I believe I do know the name.
14:39 I think the person's honorable and knows.
14:42 But I think AP is waiting for someone to earn the job from him.
14:48 And I think that's smart.
14:51 I think he is listening to everybody.
14:53 He's brought some guys in.
14:54 I've seen fans, not him.
14:56 AP doesn't know what he's doing.
14:58 Well, those are the same people that said Colton Miller was a bad draft pick.
15:02 Those are the same people that said Patrick Graham was a bad choice.
15:05 There are some people that don't have the, the, maybe it's the maturity or the football
15:15 understanding to know that everybody comes from certain situations.
15:23 I think they know that.
15:24 That means that most of us know that.
15:26 So he's sitting down with guys, he's asking very, very tough questions.
15:31 You know, if they are guys that have some failure in the background, why?
15:35 Why did that happen?
15:37 What would you have done differently?
15:39 Or what did you learn?
15:41 Sometimes bad things happen to us because we're stupid.
15:45 I've had bad things happen to me because I'm stupid.
15:47 You have too.
15:48 Or you've never done anything.
15:50 You've sat at home in your mom's basement with your girlfriend, whose last name is Dot
15:53 J peg wrapped in bubble wrap.
15:55 But most people have gone out and done something.
16:00 And Theodore Roosevelt had a great speech that he gave about the man in the arena.
16:07 You're going to have people your whole life are going to criticize you, but you're the
16:11 one in the arena.
16:13 Remember that.
16:14 I tell that to young journalists all the time when I speak to young journalists, you know,
16:17 what do you learn?
16:18 You're the one in the arena.
16:20 Everyone is going to, is going to critique you.
16:23 But remember, they're critiquing you from outside the arena.
16:26 They're buying a ticket to critique you.
16:29 You're in the arena.
16:30 That's worth something.
16:32 Same thing in your life.
16:34 Many of you have taken chances and you failed because that's part of taking chances.
16:41 But guess what?
16:42 You were in the arena.
16:44 I don't care about people's failures.
16:45 I really don't.
16:47 And I think successful people are that way.
16:51 I don't, I don't look at people's failures.
16:53 Did you learn from it?
16:54 Okay.
16:55 What'd you learn?
16:56 Great.
16:57 Let's just keep moving forward.
16:58 The people that revel in others failures are people who are never successful because successful
17:04 people don't have time to look at your failures.
17:06 You know why?
17:07 I'm looking at mine.
17:10 I always laugh at people who want to point fingers, talk about other people, point out
17:16 other people's failures.
17:17 Go right ahead.
17:18 Okay.
17:19 You know what?
17:20 I think that's why you still live in that mud.
17:24 Successful people have moved on.
17:27 Just on because they understand you only get one life.
17:31 I only get one life.
17:35 How many times do you know people who are stuck in a failure 20 years ago?
17:38 I run into it all the time with fans.
17:41 Well, 25 years ago we were good and now you know it was good times.
17:47 Okay.
17:48 You got years of your life left.
17:50 What about being good in the end?
17:54 Don't revel.
17:56 I'll never forget this and I don't have his permission to tell the story.
17:59 I don't think he would mind, but because I don't have his permission, I'm going to hold
18:04 back.
18:05 But there was a very, very famous football player who retired after a Super Bowl.
18:13 He was a very successful player.
18:16 And I'll never forget him telling me, he said, "I don't want this to be the zenith of my
18:24 life."
18:25 I'm still in my 30s.
18:28 I want to be able to live a long time and I want to have more successes.
18:34 And I think that that's the approach that AP has taken with his life.
18:38 It's a sign of character.
18:40 It's a sign of integrity.
18:43 And it's amazing how many people were whispering or tweeting things about Antonio Pierce.
18:53 But he got the job.
18:55 Why?
18:56 Because he's like, "Yep, okay, mistakes are, yep, that's behind me.
19:01 Let's go.
19:02 Let's keep moving forward."
19:03 He's never stopped moving forward.
19:04 The best running backs.
19:05 I learned this from Nick Saban.
19:08 I asked him one time about recruiting running backs.
19:12 And he says, "A lot of guys will look at your 40 speed and want to see all your highlights."
19:17 He goes, "All right, you're coming from high school.
19:20 If you're fast, you should have been able to run past a ton of people."
19:24 He goes, "But what I want to watch is what happens when you got two or three guys on
19:29 you.
19:31 Do you go backwards?
19:34 Or when you're getting tackled, do you fall forward?"
19:36 I thought, "Man, that is brilliant."
19:40 He goes, "I want people that are falling forward.
19:43 That way we're not losing yards."
19:45 He goes, "Hey, I understand.
19:46 There's going to be times you run the ball in first and 10 and you only get one yard."
19:49 He goes, "But guess what?
19:51 That's usually my guy who's falling forward.
19:53 I want guys."
19:54 And so that is what the mindset of AP is.
19:57 I see a lot of people acting like they're panicking that there hasn't been an OC.
20:02 There's literally nothing to panic about.
20:05 He has got a terrific group of guys that want the job.
20:12 Do I favor some more than others?
20:14 I do.
20:16 And I think when he learns about them, he will too.
20:20 But he's also got some guys that he knows that are out there that he can go talk to
20:24 and who are very, very good.
20:28 When you find guys who put staffs together, and it's like anything, you'll see guys
20:33 who put together a very inexperienced staff.
20:38 And that's okay when you're a guy like an Andy Reid.
20:42 That's okay when you're a guy like a Bill Belichick.
20:48 That's okay when you're a coach with a Sean Payton.
20:57 That's okay.
21:00 Because you know what you know, and you're able to disseminate that information to those
21:07 coaches and coach them.
21:09 Well, when you're a young coach, and one who's primarily just been a defensive guy.
21:14 Now remember, AP is not just a defensive coach.
21:18 He has a very intuitive offensive mind.
21:23 He was able to read offenses, and he knows what's difficult for him.
21:27 That's where Patrick Graham is an invaluable asset to him.
21:34 So then he's going to look and say, "Okay, do we have anybody on AP staff that's learning
21:40 from AP?"
21:41 It's called the Timothy principle.
21:44 And not preaching at you.
21:46 But there's a principle in the Bible where Paul, who most people, even if you're not
21:49 a Jesus follower, know who Paul is, the Apostle Paul, trained a young boy named Timothy.
21:57 To be able to take his place, to be able to grow one day when Paul was done.
22:04 And it's called the Timothy principle.
22:06 It's used in businesses everywhere, and called that, even in non-Christian places, it's still
22:12 used and called, where you're training someone to really learn how you do things.
22:20 And Antonio Pierce was a sponge who learned a lot from AP, and AP from him.
22:27 That's where their bond is so very, very close.
22:30 But he's looking for, because he's not Andy Reid, he's not Sean Payton, he's not Bill
22:35 Belichick, he's Antonio Pierce, and he's not going to try to pretend he's those.
22:39 He's bringing in great guys.
22:42 He brings in a Tom McAuflin as a senior advisor.
22:45 Marvin Lewis is going to be part of his staff.
22:47 Why is he bringing in those guys?
22:50 Because he's not intimidated at all.
22:55 He knows if I do my job, I keep my job.
22:57 If I don't do my job, I get fired.
22:59 So why am I worried about who the interim coach is?
23:02 Just do your job and you'll keep your job.
23:04 I think that's a huge deal with Antonio Pierce.
23:11 So I think the offensive coordinator is going to be fine.
23:13 I still expect it could be today, Tuesday, Wednesday at the very latest.
23:20 And not because there's a sense of urgency, unless they just make the decision, "Hey,
23:25 we can't make the hire until we talk to Kubiet."
23:27 Okay.
23:30 Do I see that happening?
23:31 No.
23:32 Is it a potential?
23:33 Yes.
23:34 But I don't see it happening.
23:36 All right.
23:37 Let's keep going here.
23:38 I got a lot I want to talk to you about.
23:42 Let's talk about Aiden O'Connell.
23:47 Aiden is very aware that there's going to be a competition next year with him.
23:55 Now that does not faze him.
23:58 He expects it and he welcomes it.
24:03 Last year, I don't know how close of attention you played, but after Jimmy Garoppolo got
24:09 benched, he became Aiden O'Connell's biggest cheerleader.
24:18 Jimmy believes, and I agree with him by the way, his career is not over in the National
24:23 Football League.
24:24 There will be a team that wants Jimmy and wants him to play.
24:28 He's completely healthy.
24:29 He's a good quarterback now.
24:31 And by now, I'm meaning when he's healthy.
24:33 I don't think anybody is going to judge him by the first games of Josh McDaniels.
24:39 For the same reason I talked about, you don't go judge other coaches by some of their failures,
24:44 like Patrick Graham.
24:46 But Aiden understands competition.
24:51 Aiden understands I'm getting a paycheck from the Las Vegas Raiders and Aiden understands
24:56 I want the Las Vegas Raiders to win.
24:58 He saw Jimmy Garoppolo when he got benched become his biggest fan.
25:02 He saw Brian Hoyer, same way.
25:06 So Aiden O'Connell not only expects a competition, he knows that, he's been told that, he's aware
25:12 of it, but he also embraces it because he wants the Las Vegas Raiders to be successful.
25:23 And so does he think he's the one that can do it?
25:25 Of course he does.
25:26 Do you want a quarterback who doesn't feel that way?
25:29 He also knows I want us to be successful, so let's get somebody in here.
25:33 Let's have a competition.
25:35 Let's make it as tough as we can because we want this team to go as far as they can.
25:40 So I've had a lot of people ask me, do you think it hurts him mentally?
25:44 No.
25:45 Aiden O'Connell, I'm going to share a couple of things and I know him pretty well.
25:50 Like him, have a great relationship with him.
25:52 Let me just say this to you about Aiden O'Connell.
25:54 First of all, I really like the kid.
25:56 And if you don't like him, I would suspect that the problem is you and not him.
26:04 He's extremely likable.
26:06 He became the starting quarterback and he still was the humble kid that was very different
26:16 to his veterans and the team genuinely really loved him.
26:23 I laughed one time when Devante Adams came out and talked about how much he likes him.
26:28 Oh, what's he supposed to say?
26:30 You do realize when you say that about players that you're calling them liars.
26:36 And I don't know how you can be a fan of a guy and then call him a liar.
26:40 I'm going to tell you something, and maybe you do not have the mental ability to see
26:47 this, but adults have a way of answering questions and not saying more than they feel.
26:58 So for example, there was a former coach on this staff that I thought was a terrible coach
27:03 before he got here.
27:04 I was stunned that they hired him and told them that by the way, very beginning, why
27:09 did you hire him?
27:10 He's terrible.
27:11 And I know the reasons and I won't get into it.
27:16 So I gave him the benefit of a doubt, then begin to hear the same things I've heard everywhere
27:22 else.
27:24 And I tried to ask him about it and give him a chance to break away from it.
27:31 Oh no, stay true to himself.
27:36 And I don't have to name names and I have to trash people.
27:40 Just it is what it is.
27:43 And these guys know how to answer questions.
27:47 And when you say to AP, Hey, what do you think of Aiden O'Connell?
27:49 He's a good kid, works hard.
27:51 I really admire his work ethic.
27:54 I admire the fact that he comes in here and he's a starting quarterback in the NFL as
27:57 a true rookie.
27:58 And he's not arrogant.
28:00 I like the fact that he listens to us.
28:03 That's how you answer a question about a guy that you don't think has long-term viability
28:09 in the NFL.
28:10 You don't have to throw him under the bus.
28:12 And by the way, Devontae wouldn't, he's a pro.
28:16 But Devontae comes out, man, I like him.
28:18 I believe in his skill set.
28:20 He can quarterback in the, Oh, what's he supposed to say?
28:23 Well, he's not supposed to say that if he doesn't believe it.
28:26 And I'm going to tell you, I'll stand here and defend Devontae Adams and Max Crosby and
28:29 several of these veteran players who are men of integrity.
28:35 And you can sit there in your base and say, what is he supposed to say?
28:38 Because you just look at life negatively.
28:39 That's cool.
28:40 That's cool.
28:41 That's okay.
28:42 But I'm telling you, they believe in him and he believes in himself, but he also knows
28:48 I'm going to be better with competition.
28:49 I'm going to be better with competition.
28:53 So he knows that competition's coming.
28:56 And I had several of you ask me, do you think that concerns him?
29:00 And the answer is no, not at all.
29:02 Now listen, I've known some quarterbacks, rookies who I think competition frazzled them.
29:13 They spent a lot of time looking over their back.
29:17 Now Nick Saban, and I know I mentioned Nick a lot, but I have tremendous respect for him.
29:23 Used to say when he was looking for coaches, I would rather have, talking about at the
29:27 college level, great recruiters who are good coaches rather than good coaches who are,
29:35 I'd rather have great recruiters who are good coaches rather than good coaches who are,
29:40 I mean, great coaches who are good recruiters.
29:43 Again, I'd rather have great recruiters who are good coaches than great coaches who are
29:47 good recruiters.
29:48 And his philosophy was a good coach who's a great recruiter is making a great player
29:55 even better.
29:57 A great recruiter is making a good player, hopefully up closer to great.
30:04 Now in the pros, it's a little bit different because you're not much of a recruiter.
30:09 You're really, you're recruiting as your coordinator and your head coach and your general manager
30:13 and cap console.
30:16 But he is, AP is bringing in coaches who are great coaches and he's bringing in those guys
30:25 who can see, identify and move forward.
30:27 I think that's really important.
30:29 So I wanted to address that because a few people have asked me about concerns and there
30:34 are no concerns.
30:35 All right, let's get to the quarterback position.
30:38 There are a lot of options for the Raiders that they're looking at.
30:41 And I want to go over these with you because I think they're very, very good.
30:46 First of all, is they're looking at to go find another quarterback to compete with Aiden.
30:56 Do we move up in the draft?
31:01 Do we stay where we're at and draft a quarterback there?
31:06 Or do we stay where we're at, draft another position player?
31:10 I told you about Latham, the right tackle out of Alabama, which by the way, was getting
31:15 a ton of attention when, when, when CJ led the chart, I'm sorry, CJ, when champ Kelly
31:20 led the chart.
31:22 Do they stick and go with him?
31:25 Or do they go quarterback depending on who falls or do they wait and pick their quarterback
31:31 up in later rounds?
31:34 After the Super Bowl, we're going to spend a lot of time looking at the quarterbacks
31:37 in this draft.
31:38 I promise when the time the draft gets here, you are going to be some of the most knowledgeable
31:43 people on the quarterbacks in this draft.
31:47 I am going to tell you, I know that Mel Kuyper is pounding the drum for Caleb Williams and
31:54 that's fine.
31:55 I like Mel, but Mel sometimes will write a guy that he predicted before he'll ride them
32:06 a little long, in my opinion.
32:08 It's not a slam on Mel's integrity at all.
32:12 He's a great man, good guy.
32:14 It's just an observation.
32:17 I've told you all along when I have felt, when I'm talking to people around the league,
32:24 I am hearing a lot of people tell me that they think Caleb Williams, that they would
32:33 not take Caleb Williams early in this draft.
32:36 I'm hearing it from a lot of people, a ton of people.
32:39 In fact, I talked to two people yesterday from two different teams and they asked me,
32:44 what do you know?
32:45 I go, man, I'll tell you what, I'm hearing a bunch of people jumping off the Caleb Williams
32:49 ship.
32:52 One particular guy who was from a very successful franchise said to me, so you haven't been
32:57 talking to us?
32:58 He said, oh, are you on the Caleb train?
32:59 He goes, we were never on it.
33:02 He goes, we don't even have a first round grade on him.
33:06 You may remember, I've told you about this guy's franchise before.
33:09 They believe a first round guy, you have to get as, there isn't 32 dudes.
33:16 If you're new to the podcast, a dude is a term in the NFL they use for guys just can't
33:20 miss.
33:22 But you've got to get as close, you either got to get a dude or as close to a dude as
33:26 you can in the first round.
33:28 Good teams don't waste first round picks.
33:32 And they go, we wouldn't select them in the first round.
33:36 We're just concerned.
33:37 There's too many concerns.
33:38 I'm not going to get into what, but there's concerns.
33:42 Okay.
33:43 And, but we're going to go through all these quarterbacks with somebody who has a lot of
33:48 high knowledge, an NFL Super Bowl champion quarterback who now has a service where he
33:55 evaluates all the draft eligible quarterbacks and disseminates that to the team.
33:59 We're going to get his perspective.
34:00 We've never had his perspective before, before a draft, he's going to join us.
34:04 We're going to bring in draft experts and talk about a lot of the positions.
34:08 Another thing I want to tell you is when you go to si.com/NFL/raiders, we are offering
34:14 you two or three nearly every day draft evaluations.
34:20 Now the last several drafts, the Raiders have not picked a player.
34:26 All right, last, I think it's the last two, they've not picked a player that we didn't
34:32 preview for you.
34:33 In the year before, I think it was just one that we hadn't, and it was a late round pick.
34:38 So we are learning who the Raiders are looking at.
34:42 We're not writing about players that the Raiders are not interested in.
34:46 So we're not just writing these for your benefit.
34:49 If you like to do your own mock drafts, if you like to study the draft as the draft goes
34:53 on, thinking about who you like, I really would encourage you to look at these draft
34:59 evaluations.
35:00 I think you'll find them interesting because if you're so zoned in on the NFL, you may
35:04 not be watching a bunch of college football.
35:07 So I really encourage you to keep those out.
35:09 Aiden Champion and Carter Landis are doing a terrific job for us writing those.
35:14 So again, I want to, so there's the option.
35:19 Do you move up?
35:20 Is there a quarterback yet that we think moving up is valuable for?
35:26 Now we know that Antonio Pierce has a great relationship with Jaden Daniels.
35:30 Is he worth moving up for?
35:33 This is where I can tell you AP is relying on Tom Telesco and their relationship is new,
35:43 but it's very good.
35:45 And this is where he's going to trust Tom to say, Hey, I like Jaden.
35:51 I know you do too.
35:52 But coach, in my evaluation, being non-biased, because I don't have a personal relationship
36:00 with him.
36:01 Boy, I think he's worth going up and getting, or I think we stay in Hopi Falstaffs at 13,
36:09 or you know, I got a second, third round grade and I don't know what the grade is yet.
36:14 So don't assume that I'm telling you that's what Telesco saying.
36:18 And this is where him and AP are going to work really good together.
36:20 It's why you have to have that relationship.
36:23 Again I go back to last year, Dave Ziegler wanted Stroud and Josh McDaniels wanted Bryce
36:31 Young.
36:33 And I learned it at, right after the combine.
36:35 I learned that.
36:37 I've shared that story with you at nausea.
36:39 Don't need to share it anymore.
36:42 So that's why it's really important.
36:47 Had they listened to their general manager, the Raiders had already predetermined what
36:53 the cost of moving up was.
36:54 So if they had, or later in the process, the Texans were not giving up one, but there was
37:01 a time when they were, because the Raiders knew exactly what it would cost them to move
37:05 up.
37:06 I know that for a hundred percent.
37:07 I was told that.
37:10 I was told that at the combine that, yeah, we know the cost of one and we know the cost
37:16 of two.
37:18 So imagine if early in the process, they had decided, okay, we want Stroud.
37:22 They already knew the cost that could have move up, but whatever, Josh wanted Bryce Young
37:30 if Bryce were to have fallen.
37:33 Okay.
37:34 And the rest is history.
37:35 Now there were a lot of teams that wanted Aiden O'Connell.
37:38 I know that the Denver Broncos were trying to move up to get Aiden O'Connell when the
37:44 Raiders took him.
37:46 There were other teams trying to move up to get Aiden O'Connell.
37:50 People really liked him.
37:51 They like his game.
37:53 So the first decision the Raiders have to make is do we move up?
37:56 Do we stay and take a quarterback if they fall to us or do we move down?
38:03 It's going to be interesting to watch.
38:09 At this point, I can tell you no decisions have been made yet by the Raiders.
38:16 None.
38:17 I'm hearing people say, oh, this means this.
38:20 I can tell you because I asked someone who would know.
38:26 And I was told flat out, there is no decision that has been made.
38:32 None.
38:34 Now, Telesco is going to do his job.
38:40 He's going to call around because even if it's not for a quarterback, they need to get
38:47 a producer.
38:49 And so Telesco is going to call around and say, what's the cost to move to one?
38:54 What's the cost to move to two?
38:55 What's the cost?
38:56 He's going to do that from one through 12 because he picks at 13.
38:59 He's going to know what all the costs are.
39:01 Now, if you don't pull the trigger quick on a trade, the cost goes up.
39:09 So let me give you an example.
39:11 Last year, Dave Ziegler makes the call.
39:15 He knows what the cost of the pick is if you go to number one or number two.
39:24 And he knew all of them up to him.
39:25 He knew what the cost was to go to each one.
39:29 But as the process went on and got closer to the draft, Carolina wasn't going to trade,
39:37 neither was Houston.
39:41 So the cost went up so high that it's no longer available.
39:45 So the closer you get, the higher the price goes up.
39:48 So Telesco is going to do his job and know exactly who's available.
39:53 That's the first option quarterback.
39:55 And then you go pick a guy and let him compete with Aiden.
40:01 You know, this is where I talk about the 1% in social media.
40:06 We wrote an article last week about Aiden O'Connell's earned the right to compete.
40:10 No one said the guy was earned the right to keep the starters job.
40:16 And just the vitriol of people.
40:18 Yeah, but he ain't earned the right to be a starter.
40:23 People don't read but want to comment and they just look stupid.
40:29 That's fine.
40:30 But 99% don't.
40:31 They understood exactly what we're saying.
40:33 This kid's earned the right to compete.
40:36 Now, you saw Brock Purdy last night.
40:41 He's not a mobile quarterback, but he was a threat to run.
40:47 That's part of the game of Aiden O'Connell that has to be developed.
40:51 Even if he ends up not being your number one quarterback, it still has to be developed.
40:58 It'll make him more dangerous.
40:59 So that's the first option is what are they going to do with their draft pick?
41:04 If I had to say right now, and you have to understand, we're not even done with the Super
41:08 Bowl.
41:12 I believe their philosophy was if somebody drops to us, great.
41:19 But if there's not somebody there that we think with the value of 13, we'll either trade
41:23 back or stay where we're at.
41:25 That's where I thought a Latham came in, a right tackle.
41:29 But I'm still learning this.
41:32 And I don't think they know what they want to do.
41:34 The next option is do they do a trade?
41:39 Is there a quarterback out there that they think is tradable for?
41:46 Is the cost reasonable?
41:49 Now you've got Justin Fields with two years left on his rookie deal.
41:58 Do you go trade for a Justin Fields who's got two years left on his rookie deal before
42:07 you have to pay him big Jack to allow him to see if he develops over those last two
42:13 years into a guy worthy of big Jack?
42:19 And then what's his value?
42:22 Are you willing to trade for him with your second round pick?
42:30 What about your first?
42:33 Or do you trade 13 for maybe two ones from somebody else lower in the draft and then
42:41 trade one of the ones to De Beers for Justin Fields?
42:45 That's an option.
42:48 That's an option.
42:50 You got to look at that option.
42:53 And then you let Fields and O'Connell compete.
42:59 But a trade is certainly a viable option.
43:01 And they're looking at everything right now.
43:05 This is where Champ Kelly's value is so enormous.
43:11 Because Telesco is trying to learn the roster he has right now.
43:17 Obviously he's overseeing the scouting, but he knows what Champ can do.
43:21 He values Champ and Champ's staff.
43:23 Well they're his staff now, but you know what I mean.
43:27 And those guys are also able to look at potential trades and bring information to Telesco as
43:33 he's trying to let all this go through his mind.
43:35 A lot of good stuff looking to hear in the trade.
43:38 Then there's free agency.
43:43 There's a Baker Mayfield that you can bring in to compete with Aiden.
43:46 You say, "Well, I don't want Baker."
43:47 Okay, I'm only using it as an example.
43:53 There is a Kirk Cousins who would bring an element to this team.
43:58 There's a lot of people that believe quarterback play can push this team over the top.
44:10 There's a lot of people that believe that Aiden O'Connell is the one who will improve
44:14 his quarterback play and get him there.
44:15 And we're going to talk about Aiden in a minute.
44:18 But either way, those are some options.
44:21 Are there some free agents?
44:22 Jacoby Brissett.
44:25 You know, who knows?
44:28 But this is one of the options.
44:30 And then lastly, I'll talk about the quarterback.
44:32 Still have more I want to talk about the Raiders.
44:34 Is Aiden O'Connell.
44:36 You take a long hard look at Aiden O'Connell.
44:39 Okay, and if you make the decision, this is our guy, then you still look at bringing a
44:46 veteran in and you still better look at drafting a rookie.
44:50 You better for your three spots.
44:54 You're always developing a young quarterback.
44:58 Even if you got one, you're still got one and then you bring in a leader.
45:02 Those are all part of the dynamic of the quarterback situation right now.
45:12 That's all the dynamic that there is.
45:15 You know, do you go trade for a guy?
45:18 Let him compete with Aiden.
45:20 Do you go draft a guy?
45:21 Let him compete with Aiden.
45:24 Do you keep Aiden as your number one and go get somebody, let them back him up and compete?
45:30 Yeah, that's an option too.
45:32 Do you go the free agent route?
45:33 And then the last option is what if Telesco says, I don't believe in Aiden.
45:42 There's a market for him.
45:44 I've heard people say we should trade Aiden for a one.
45:48 Well, if you think Aiden's worth a one, then why you want to trade him?
45:53 If you're the Raider team that got him and you don't believe in him, why would you expect
45:57 someone else would put a value of a one on him?
46:04 So that's the five options that the Raiders are really looking at with quarterback.
46:09 And again, I can reiterate as of, I think it was yesterday, there's no concrete decision
46:18 that has been made here to four.
46:21 Now I want to end with this today because we are talking about last night's Lions game.
46:30 Dan Campbell is not a good coach.
46:34 I think he's a great coach.
46:35 They won three games his first year.
46:38 They won eight or nine his second and then 12 this year and went to the NFC Conference
46:43 Championship game.
46:45 Heard a lot of people last night ripping them.
46:49 Well, the Ra-Ra ran out of gas.
46:51 Well, it may have run out of gas, but he ran out of gas where 28 other teams would have
46:59 loved to have run out of gas.
47:04 Expand your mind to understand the game.
47:07 But he got hurt with young coordinators on both sides.
47:12 There wasn't a ton of experienced guys around to help with adjustments.
47:17 Now in fairness, that has not been Achilles heel with the Lions all year.
47:23 They have made good adjustments.
47:24 I'm thinking of several games in particular where they made adjustments.
47:32 But that is where the people ripping AP for having Marvin Lewis and Tom Coughlin are to
47:41 me so far out in left field.
47:43 You're playing cricket where everyone else playing football.
47:47 You want those guys around you with institutional knowledge of the game.
47:54 For example, Sean Payton and Bill Belichick, Andy Reid, really good coaches.
48:02 Nobody doubts that.
48:05 I don't think Sean Payton is as good as Andy Reid and Bill Belichick at all.
48:10 I don't think he's in their group at all.
48:12 But he has been around a long time and he has won a lot of football games.
48:15 And I think he's a good coach.
48:16 I don't think he's great.
48:17 I don't think he's elite.
48:18 I think he's a good coach.
48:22 You can bring in a lot of young guys.
48:25 And I think it's important to have young guys on your staff anyways.
48:28 But you can bring in more than maybe an AP or a Dan Campbell.
48:33 Because you have enough institutional knowledge and you understand the way the game is run
48:39 that you don't necessarily need that.
48:42 AP is smart enough to know that what he doesn't know, he needs guys around him that he trusts,
48:48 who when they speak, he listens.
48:52 I think something that you saw yesterday was the Lions came out, punched San Francisco
48:58 in the face, right in the kisser.
49:04 But at halftime, you saw the better staff.
49:08 And I don't know that I would say better staff.
49:09 You saw the more experienced staff make adjustments.
49:13 And then the Lions were not able to adjust in-game.
49:19 A lot of games are won with second half adjustments.
49:25 And we're not talking about throwing out your offense and redoing or throwing.
49:28 It's just little adjustments.
49:30 I was once talking with a very famous NFL head coach, and it was off the record at the
49:36 combine.
49:37 I don't think he would mind me telling you, but I'm not going to out of respect for him.
49:41 And I said, "What do you think is one of the biggest misconceptions of the game of football?"
49:45 And he said, "Halftime adjustments."
49:47 Fans are always talking about halftime adjustments.
49:50 I said, "Well, you're the one that usually gets the credit for making them."
49:52 He goes, "Yeah, but they're not as big as fans think.
49:56 Sometimes it's a little adjustment."
49:59 I thought that was really powerful.
50:03 Years ago, I had an AMC Concord car.
50:11 And it was my first car.
50:12 It had been my mom's, and my mom gave it to me.
50:15 And my car, I thought the engine was terrible.
50:19 So I took it to a buddy of mine, a young kid.
50:21 I was young.
50:22 I was 18, 19 years old.
50:26 He was 19 years old.
50:28 And he goes, "Oh, man, your engine's bad.
50:29 You need an engine."
50:30 I went home, and my dad's like, "What's wrong?"
50:33 I said, "My engine."
50:34 Yeah, I was 18 years old.
50:37 I'm on my way to college.
50:40 And he goes, "Son, I took great care of that car when it was your mom's.
50:45 There's no bad engine on there."
50:47 So he has the car towed to a mechanic.
50:53 It's an old, beat-up garage.
50:55 The guy's name was Bill Atimer.
50:58 Great guy.
50:59 He's my dad's mechanic.
51:02 Bill looked down at him.
51:03 "What's the problem we got here?"
51:04 I said, "Well, they told me you need a new engine."
51:05 "You don't need a new engine."
51:06 I said, "Well, how do you know?"
51:07 He goes, "Because I did all the work on that engine.
51:08 I'm your mom and dad's mechanic.
51:09 Why didn't you bring it to me?"
51:10 "Kid, do a kid."
51:11 He goes, "No."
51:12 I said, "I don't know what it is, but I can tell you right now, boy, it ain't an engine
51:24 if it's an engine."
51:26 And this was like a month after I got it from my mom.
51:28 I'll put it in for free.
51:29 He said, "Okay."
51:30 We're there, and him and my dad are shooting the braids, drinking coffee while he's looking
51:35 at the car and all that.
51:38 And he comes over and sits down.
51:39 "Y'all won't play cards?"
51:40 So I'm like, "What is going on?"
51:42 "We're playing."
51:43 20 minutes later, guy shows up.
51:47 Mr. Latimer walks over.
51:49 Shuts up.
51:51 "You're fine."
51:53 I said, "What did I owe you?"
51:55 He said, "Two dollars."
51:56 I said, "What?"
51:57 He said, "Normally, I'd charge you more for my time, but I got to play cards with your
52:08 dad."
52:09 He goes, "The part was 84 cents."
52:11 I'll never forget that.
52:13 I'm like, "84 cents?"
52:15 He goes, "Yeah."
52:16 Now, I don't know the name of the, I don't know if it was a PCV valve, because a PVC
52:21 is a plastic pipe.
52:23 PCV valve.
52:25 Just needed to be changed.
52:26 84 cents.
52:27 He looked at me and said, "You should probably always pick a mechanic with some gray hair."
52:35 I think that's a principle that, and I'll never forget my dad, when we got in the car
52:39 that day, he said, "Son, that's a good principle about life.
52:44 People with gray hair don't know it all, but they do know a lot.
52:48 They failed a lot."
52:49 I thought that was a great principle.
52:52 I think it's the same way AP's putting some gray hair on his staff, because he understands
52:59 exactly what the value is.
53:02 You should, too.
53:04 You should, too.
53:06 Understand and appreciate the way that he's assembling the staff.
53:10 I think he's doing a terrific job.
53:12 All right.
53:13 Remember, I'm Hondo Carpenter from Sports Illustrated's Fan Nation, Las Vegas Raiders
53:16 Insider Podcast, part of the Fans First Sports Network.
53:19 Follow me on Instagram @HondoSR.
53:23 Follow me on X, formerly known as Twitter @HondoCarpenter.
53:26 You can also follow me on LinkedIn, Hondo Carpenter.
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54:11 Thank you all for tuning in, and thank you for all the very kind words to my wife.
54:19 Other than telling her she could have married better, and I agree, by the way.
54:23 It was fun, and I appreciate you.
54:26 You say whatever you want about me, but I was very glad that you were kind to my wife
54:29 and family, and that's what you expect from Raider Nation.
54:33 That's the kind of people that you are.
54:34 So from all of us here at Sports Illustrated's Fan Nation Las Vegas Raiders Insider Podcast,
54:39 part of the Fans First Sports Network, remember, thanks for watching us.
54:42 Hope that you have a great day.
54:43 God bless you, and we'll see you all again tomorrow.